Handheld electronic devices (HEDs) have become ubiquitous in the last few years. Cell phones are the most common of these of course, but PDAs, GPS units, and digital cameras are also found in frequent use.
As electronic devices, HEDs are inherently somewhat fragile. Mechanical shock, dust and dirt, and liquids can all damage these devices. Accordingly, protecting HEDs from these damage agents is important.
Although protecting HEDs from harm is important, it is also important that a person's individual HED be quickly accessible. These two requirements are not complementary. That is, the more accessible a HED is to its owner, typically the less well that HED is protected, and vice versa.
For cell phones, cell phone manufacturers now typically resolve these competing purposes with a belt case. These belt cases attach with a clip to the cell phone owner's belt. The cases have spring-loaded walls or a flap with a magnetic latch or hook and loop closure to retain the cell phone and yet allow reasonably convenient access to the cell phone.
Belt cases have a number of deficiencies. Belt clips may unexpectedly detach from the owner's belt creating the potential for the cell phone to fall to the ground perhaps damaging the cell phone. Or the owner may not securely insert the cell phone into the case, with the same result. Sometimes the owner may not secure the latch, so the cell phone falls out of the case later on.
And it's fair to say that a belt case is not a fashion statement. Because of that, women particularly, often keep their cell phones in their purses. Men on the other hand, may keep their cell phones in their pockets.
Both of these solutions have disadvantages. Carrying a cell phone in either a pocket or purse without a case can lead to damage to it. The jostling that a cell phone experiences in a pocket or purse can scratch or abrade the display. Even worse, pockets and purses are dirty, so that contamination makes the keys stick or cause imperfect contact by the switches the keys. Worst of all, particularly in purses, liquid spills are possible that can damage the cell phone.
A belt case is not a good holder for a cell phone to be carried in a pocket or purse. The clip is relatively bulky. Many cases expose the cell phone at a number of points to dirt, shock, and abrasion.
Bags or sleeves are available that solve this problem. These typically are made from a soft fabric thick enough to provide some shock and contamination protection. The bag has a drawstring opening that the owner can close to protect the cell phone. While such a bag provides quite good protection for the cell phone, users find the acts of inserting and removing the cell phone from the bag time-consuming.
Thus, the current state of the art provides some solutions to the twin problems of both protecting a cell phone from damage and also allowing relatively easy access to the cell phone or other HED. But each solution has at least some flaws.